Juicy and plump meatballs made with beef, pork and rice are baked in a creamy tomato sauce. The carrots, onions and garlic make the sauce even more flavorful and is the perfect gravy to serve over mashed potatoes, rice or pasta.
In Russian, these Porcupine Meatballs - Тефтели "Ёжики" are called this way because of the rice that is used in them, that pokes out from the meatballs in little "quills". Baked in a scrumptious sauce that's flavored with carrots, onions and tomato paste and just a bit of cream, it is so comforting and delicious. I have been eating these my entire life, a recipe passed down through the generations.
Thy are wonderful served as a leftover, and in addition to that, they freeze perfectly too. You'll get twice the benefit from your effort of making them once.
What Meat Can Be Used For Porcupine Meatballs?
I usually use a combination of pork and beef. The best results will be to use ground pork shoulder and ground beef chuck or steak. If you use lean meat with less fat, the meatballs will be more dense and tougher.
You can also use any other ground meat that you like, such as ground chicken, ground turkey, ground venison, etc.
How To Prepare the Meatballs
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Partially cook the rice. I usually bring the water to a boil and cook for 5-7 minutes. Drain and cool slightly. (You can also use leftover rice instead of partially cooked rice.)
Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl and mix until evenly incorporated.
The additional water will make the meatballs more tender.
Form the meat mixture into meatballs, about 2 Tablespoons each, placing the meatballs into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
How To Prepare the Creamy Tomato Sauce
In a large skillet, heat the butter or oil. Sauté the onions, carrots and garlic until tender.
Add the tomato paste and flour and mix until incorporated into the vegetables. Pour in the broth, mixing it in until evenly incorporated. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until it thickens and creates a sauce consistency.
Add the cream and dry herbs at the very end.
Pour the sauce over the meatballs in the baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven, covered, for 45 minutes to an hour, until the meatballs are tender. Garnish with fresh herbs.
Making the Meatballs in Advance
These meatballs can be prepared 1-3 days in advance and then reheated in the oven, on the stovetop or microwave. Store the meatballs in the refrigerator.
Freezing Porcupine Meatballs
Freeze the cooked meatballs and sauce in an airtight container or freezer ziplock bag for 3-6 months. Thaw and reheat.
You can also freeze the meatballs and sauce uncooked, and then thaw and cook just as you would if you were making them from scratch.
Porcupine Meatballs With a Cream Sauce
Juicy and plump meatballs made with beef, pork and rice are baked in a creamy tomato sauce. The carrots, onions and garlic make the sauce even more flavorful and is the perfect gravy to serve over mashed potatoes, rice or pasta.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
- Yield: 34 meatballs 1x
- Category: Entree
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- ¾ lb ground beef (chuck, steak)
- ¾ lb ground pork (shoulder)
- ½ cup rice, partially cooked (1 ½ cups leftover rice)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 egg
- ½ cup water
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Cream Sauce:
- 2-3 Tablespoons butter
- 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
- 2 onions, chopped or sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth, warm
- ¼ - ½ cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ Tablespoon dry herbs (any spices, herbs, any combination that you like)
- fresh herbs, chopped, to garnish (parsley, dill, thyme, etc.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Partially cook the rice. I usually bring the water to a boil and cook for 5-7 minutes. Drain and cool slightly.
- Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl. Form meatballs into approximately 2 Tablespoons each. Place in a rimmed baking pan, 9 x 13 inches.
- You can use a portion scoop to make it easier to form the meatballs, or use your hands. Moisten your hands every once in a while so the meat mixture doesn't stick to your hands.
- For the cream sauce, melt butter in a large skillet. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the carrots and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook, covered, for another 5 minutes, until the carrots soften. Add the tomato paste and flour to the center of the pan and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until it's completely incorporated into the carrots and onions.
- Pour in part of the chicken broth and whisk to combine. Gradually add the rest of the broth. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the vegetables soften.
- Take off the heat and stir in the heavy cream. Season to taste with salt, ground black pepper and dry herbs.
- Pour the cream sauce over the meatballs.
- Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until the meatballs are tender. Garnish with fresh herbs.
The recipe for these Porcupine Meatballs was originally published on February 27, 2013. I have updated the pictures and clarified the instructions to give you the best results.
I made these like 10 times now and they are always the best. I was wondering if I can cook them in the slow-cooker instead of the oven?
I'm so glad to hear that you are enjoying this recipe, Ksenia. I've never tried making these meatballs in the slow cooker. I think they will turn to mush, since you'll need to place the raw meatballs one on top of the other in the slow cooker. Whenever I've made meatballs in the slow cooker before, I've always precooked the meatballs and then added the sauce in the slow cooker.
Thank you so much for your advise and now that you said it I can see why it would not work. I will cook them in the oven and then transfer to the crockpot so I can keep them warm for our church harvest party. Be blessed.
That will work great, Ksenia.
Hi Olga, will these work with just ground turkey ?
Yes, Ana. The meatballs will work with just about any ground meat. As long as you actually like ground turkey, they will taste just fine.
What happens if I omit the heavy cream? My I replace it with something else?
The cream adds lusciousness and creaminess to the sauce. I really like the flavor that it adds to the sauce. Of course, you can omit it, just substitute with more broth. However, if you're trying to cut calories, I don't think this is the recipe for you. Gravies in general are not healthy and by omitting the cream, you will still have a lot of calories left in the rest of the sauce. If you're lactose intolerant, just use more broth.
Hello Olga, i recently came across your website and decided to give this recipe a try, and OMG! Its my first time cooking meatballs and they came out SO delicious, my toddler ate only that and not the mashed potatoes! i reduced the amount of rice a little and used 1 onion insead of 2 for the meat, but overall: amazing and SO soft! thank you!!
I'm so glad to know that you enjoyed the meatballs, Alina!
Olga hi . This is tge best recipe I have ever had I love the gravy plus my husband really loved it .. he akways wants a really good gravy but I couldn't find a good recipe he said this is the deal that's what I like. Thank you for the post...
Olga,
This is such a great thing for me to hear. I know what you mean about finding just the right recipe. I'm always on the lookout to have that perfect combination that I can cook over and over for my family to enjoy.
Thanks for taking the time to let me know the results of trying out this recipe.
Hey Olga, is 5 tablespoons of tomato paste too much? On your picture it looks like you used only 2. I put three, and I think its a little too sour, by the way i was making it second time again. Thanks.
In the picture, I was making half a batch, so I used only 2.5 Tablespoons. In my opinion, you need the full amount of tomato paste, but adjust it to your taste buds. Everybody likes their food different.
Olga, I have a silly question. I love this recipe of yours, but I would like to cut it in half next time. When you make half of a batch, how do you cut the 1 egg in half?
Whisk the egg with a fork in a small bowl and pour half of it in. However, for this recipe, you can just use the whole egg. I would be more precise if I was baking, but not cooking.
I made them today, and oh my they are finger licking good. 😉
I make these meatballs all the time, and we never get tired of them. I'm glad you enjoyed them too, Julia.
Absolutely delicious! We did enjoy it! Thank you, Olga.
(waiting for "plov" recipe 🙂
It'll be up this week, Tatyana:). Probably Wednesday.
Made these meatballs last night for dinner. and it was the first time I actually followed a recipe without skipping any steps and it turned out fantastic! I only had pork meat so it made less meatballs but the family enjoyed it. they tasted awesome. love your step by step and pictures. that always helps when u see what happens next. Looking forward to trying more of your amazing recipes! GOd bless!
Hi, Olechka,
WOW!!! These meatballs are SOOOO delicious!!!! We loved your recipe much more that I used to cook. I made them today for dinner and was surprised because its take less time, easier and more delicious then mine. Thanks much!!!!
I love your website and every recipe that I tried on your WEB SOO GOOD!!!!!
PS. One tip for you. I use "McCormick Brown Gravy mix" instead flour or mixed it with flour. I buy it at "Sam's club" because it's cheaper. They have different kind such as chicken, turkey but my favorite is Brown Gravy, it has mushroom flavor and I use it so often in many dishes. Try it!!!
Thanks again!
Be blessed!
Hi Olga,
I made these meatballs for a family get together last week and everyone loved them! They were going back for seconds and thirds! So thanks heaps for the recipe.:)
There are just two of us. I'd like to freeze half the recipe. Should I put the cream sauce over the raw meatballs in a baking dish and freeze it ready to bake later?
You can bake the whole batch and then freeze half of it, Leslie. That's what I would do.
You can freeze the raw meatballs also, I think. However, I've never done it myself with this particular recipe, but I've done it with similar recipes and had great results.
Hi, I have. I freezed the half of the meat with rice, and than later used it to make kotleti, before frying obvaljat v syxarjax. 🙂 ochen vkysno. Also, I make frikadelki dlja wedding syp out of this farsh, what's left from this farsh. Cz its too much of tefteli for us 3. 🙂
Olga, How many people does this recipe serve? Thanks : )
Elena,
You will have approximately 48 meatballs.
Hi Olga, this looks so delicious. I got one question though. I'm planning to make it for Sunday's lunch and I was wondering can I prepare it the night before and cook it on Sunday or should I cook it on Saturday and just heat it up on Sunday? And thanks once again for all the wonderful recipes your sending my way.
Oksana,
You can do it either way. It works just as well in both cases.
Ohh this looks delicious! Can't wait to make it!